Hi all,

you will not know me, as i only joined this site on monday. I have an issue i would like to clear up and would appreciate your help.

I work as a Dialler Manager, and the company i work for have just purchased a dialler. We are looking into the possibility of leaving messages from our automated dialler, so when the system detects an answer machine, it will play a pre-recorded message. (it is not a cold marketing call, we are replying to people applying for our services on our website) Obviousley, we are going to adhear to correct DPA, but does anybody know if it is acceptable to leave a pre-recorded message to customer who are not available.

I have been passed from pillar to post from the ICO to the DMA to Offcom. Nobody has given me a clear answer.

Thanks

Hi Jon

It is legal to contact customers and leave a messaging on there voicemail with an autodialer.
Theirs nothing wrong with contacting your customer and leaving a voicemail and leaving a message with an autodialer is technically no deferent.

The trouble starts when you call people with an autodialer and try to sell something with a pre recorded message.

You will also find a problem with the fact that diallers are specifically designed not to connect to voicemails, so if you have purchased a cost effective dialling solution (no names) you could be looking at a none starter.

I know that the Avaya PDS has been deployed in this fashion before for a well known finance organisation.

Regards
Jason

Hi Jon,

Did you get my email reply, BTW? I'd like to talk to you about silent calls....

With regards to your question.
This is another reference to Article 19 of the PECR:
19. - (1) A person shall neither transmit, nor instigate the transmission of, communications comprising recorded matter for direct marketing purposes by means of an automated calling system except in the circumstances referred to in paragraph (2).

(2) Those circumstances are where the called line is that of a subscriber who has previously notified the caller that for the time being he consents to such communications being sent by, or at the instigation of, the caller on that line.

The query is: Is it a "Direct Marketing" call. I'd say not if you're calling them back.

Thanks Jason for the info. We are not intending to dial for marketing purposes, and i am aware of the restrictions and the system detection.

I have used this particular dialler for the last 4 yrs but its hard to keep up with all the changes in legislation

Darryl! - i did not get your e-mail i am afriad. We do not use recorded messages for silent calls.

It is definately not a marketing call, but i am getting a bit frustrated as nobody (in terms of governing bodies) are taking ownership or responsibility for this, they keep passing me around.

A great site by the way

Jon,

I've just had a failure notice from hotmail - seems to be a problem with my ISP sending emails to hotmail.

I'll send my reply via Mail on this site - look for the tab in the top right hand corner. If you need it by email that I can resend if you supply a different email address (just send it to the same address as before).

Regards,
Darryl

Hi Jon,

This subject is something I have investigated a great lengths with our company lawyers.

The long and short of it was this.

Yes there is no legality stopping the use of a dialler to leave pre-recorded messages but there are certain issues you must be aware of.

DPA - You must ensure the message you leave does not breach any DPA guidelines as you can not ensure the information you leave will not be heard by a third party.

Ofcom issued a “statement of policy of persistent misuse of electronic communication network or electronic communications service” in May 2004. This statement covers the use of automated messaging systems, the only time you would have a problem here is if you you the system to the annoyance of the customers you where contacting. i.e. leaving multiple messages. If you where to restrict the use of this system to one or two messages per contact you should not risk breaking this policy.

You should note that the calls should be made a reasonable times and that the company you are calling from is clearly identified.

Although the solution does not fall foul of any current legislation or regulations, the position may change in the future if more companies implement it but do not proper regulate there use of it.

The company I am employed by have implemented this solution only after much consideration and considerable cost of investigation, I would suggest before you do take the steps of trying to implement this solution you investigate if the message you plan to leave in any way may break the DPA and ensure your planned use of the system does not potentially break the existing OFCOM regulations.

Regards


John

As far as I can tell from my own researching the subject it can be legally done as long as the message doesnt try to sell anything to the recipient of the call. So leaving something that identifies who you are and why you were calling should be ok.

One thing should be taken into consideration though. The DMA recently commisioned a survey on the reasons why TPS registration was so high at the moment and one thing that did come up was that almost 50% of the people surveyed considered a recorded message as much of an unwanted inconvenience as a silent call.

The report can be downloaded from www.brookmeadconsulting.com

"As far as I can tell from my own researching the subject it can be legally done as long as the message doesnt try to sell anything to the recipient of the call."

Yes, this is correct. More information, although I anticipate your use of the message is for slightly different purposes, is available here

Regards,
Darryl

Thankyou all for your help. I am sure it will come in handy.

Jon